publishing.co.uk · Live data
The AI Book Discoverability Index
The real domains AI engines cite when readers ask for book recommendations — drawn from 916 book audits across 16 genres and 4 engines (ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini, Perplexity), then segmented so authors know where to get listed for value. Numbers trace to live citations, not model memory.
Updated continuously as new audits run — last updated 11 Jun 2026.
Top of the AI bookshelf
The domains cited most often across every genre and engine — the shelf AI reaches for first.
How much influence does Reddit really have?
Reddit is the web's single most-cited domain overall — but for book recommendations specifically, AI reaches for it far less than its reputation suggests.
Read this before pitching: across 916 book audits Reddit is cited just 829 times — rank #11, under 1% of all citations. For book discovery, AI leans far harder on reference sites (Wikipedia, Goodreads), creator video (YouTube) and specialist best-of lists than on Reddit. Its web-wide “dominance” (~40% of citations in Peec’s 30M-source study) does not carry over to books.
Retailer reality-check — how big do the shops really do?
How often AI cites each bookshop. The number in brackets is the domain's rank across all 5,881 sources.
The big retailers cluster together — but every bookshop trails the reference, creator and best-of sources above. AI cites where it learns about books far more than where readers buy them.
The best "best-of" sites
The curation and listicle venues AI trusts most — the highest-value places for an author to be featured.
Publishers AI cites directly
Publisher domains carry real weight — their 'best of' pages and catalogue listings get pulled into recommendations.
Where to get listed, by genre
Every genre's own most-cited sources — the author's submission map. Open a genre for the full top-10 + its niche kingmakers.
- 1en.wikipedia.org488
- 2crimereads.com311
- 3goodreads.com296
- 4youtube.com284
- 5panmacmillan.com203
- 1en.wikipedia.org595
- 2goodreads.com452
- 3panmacmillan.com397
- 4fivebooks.com310
- 5crimereads.com299
- 1goodreads.com472
- 2panmacmillan.com467
- 3en.wikipedia.org296
- 4penguinrandomhouse.com292
- 5youtube.com287
- 1goodreads.com476
- 2en.wikipedia.org424
- 3youtube.com274
- 4penguinrandomhouse.com216
- 5owlcrate.com142
- 1goodreads.com634
- 2bookishwayfarer.com378
- 3en.wikipedia.org294
- 4briarblack.com275
- 5youtube.com267
- 1goodreads.com511
- 2youtube.com471
- 3en.wikipedia.org420
- 4fivebooks.com301
- 5booksofbrilliance.com217
- 1en.wikipedia.org396
- 2goodreads.com340
- 3fivebooks.com333
- 4andrewliptak.com183
- 5panmacmillan.com176
- 1booksofbrilliance.com383
- 2fivebooks.com338
- 3goodreads.com333
- 4en.wikipedia.org272
- 5penguinrandomhouse.com238
- 1en.wikipedia.org263
- 2goodreads.com252
- 3readbrightly.com158
- 4thenovelry.com146
- 5ala.org138
- 1goodreads.com244
- 2youtube.com187
- 3susie-moore.com136
- 4ryangottfredson.com117
- 5en.wikipedia.org116
- 1youtube.com360
- 2store.hbr.org298
- 3goodreads.com225
- 4en.wikipedia.org220
- 5porchlightbooks.com195
- 1youtube.com439
- 2wecu.com391
- 3goodreads.com197
- 4moneywithkatie.com194
- 5cnbc.com193
- 1en.wikipedia.org727
- 2fivebooks.com659
- 3goodreads.com418
- 4youtube.com295
- 5alisonwearing.com265
- 1en.wikipedia.org451
- 2youtube.com273
- 3eatyourbooks.com235
- 4theweek.com200
- 5goodreads.com186
- 1goodreads.com348
- 2youtube.com339
- 3en.wikipedia.org181
- 4runtothefinish.com171
- 5barnesandnoble.com165
- 1goodreads.com468
- 2crimereads.com368
- 3en.wikipedia.org342
- 4simonandschuster.com245
- 5penguinrandomhouse.com226
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<p>Source: <a href="https://visibility.publishing.co.uk/book-index">publishing.co.uk
AI Book Discoverability Index</a></p>Methodology: real cited domains aggregated live from 916 audited books across 16 genres, mined from the four citation-transparent engines — ChatGPT, Claude, Gemini and Perplexity. Runs probing the simulated Amazon assistant are excluded from this index (the paid audit also probes that surface; it never feeds this dataset). A domain must be cited for at least two different audited books to rank, and any domain whose genre citations come ≥70% from a single title is excluded from rankings. Updated continuously as new audits run. Full detail: methodology.